This time Eden Hazard lasted fifteen minutes. He returned last Saturday against Elche after missing seven games, but fell again. After not training in the preview of the European duel on Tuesday against Atalanta (21.00, Movistar Champions League, 0-1 in the first leg), the club reported that he suffers a muscle injury in the right psoas. This time there is no estimated time to leave.
“Something is happening. These are things that I cannot explain to you anymore. I hope, because I want to be positive, that it is a small thing and soon he can be with us, “Zinedine Zidane said at a press conference this Monday, before the entity released the medical report. “I don’t know if it will be with me or with someone else, because he has a long contract, but what I want is for him to see the player he is. And this is going to come. You have to be patient ”, continued the French coach amid the barrage of questions about the Belgian. “There are already four, I can’t tell you more,” he protested in vain to settle the matter.
His stay in Madrid, for which he signed in the summer of 2019 for between 100 million (which was reported at the beginning) and 160 (which the Belgian press later claimed), is a medical drama. This is the fifth injury of the season, to which should be added the positive for covid, which left him out of the visit to Mestalla.
Of the 36 games that the whites have played this season, 21 have been lost. It does not even reach 20% of the total minutes. He has not completed a match since November 23, 2019 against Real Sociedad, just the one before the injury against PSG, the beginning of a physical torture that no one is able to explain. His casualties are so recurrent that the team has become used to suffering without him. In the midst of a serious scoring problem, the former Chelsea player was one of those destined to alleviate that hole, but, until further notice, the Belgian was long ago stopped thinking of as a possible solution to the infinite sequence of mishaps.
His record this course is to link seven games in a row in pieces. This season, his medical history began as a continuation of the previous one. The Belgian, who had played 80 minutes last August in the round of 16 against City despite showing obvious signs of poor form, was delayed in setting up for the new season. He was not available in the first two games (Real and Betis) and, when he was finally included in the list against Valladolid at the end of September, he broke the anterior rectus of the right thigh.
He returned a month later against Gladbach, however, it barely lasted three games. The time in Germany, against Huesca (scores a goal) and with Inter. Then the covid attacked him, although, luckily for him, it coincided with a stoppage of national teams and only the duel was lost at the Mestalla.
In his next round of matches, he again barely lasted three (Villarreal, Inter and Alavés). Against the people of Vitoria, at 28 minutes he withdrew from Di Stefano and the tests diagnosed him with another rupture of the anterior rectus of the right thigh, the same problem as two months ago. Those days, in addition, the dressing room was going through a critical moment, with the pass to the second round of the Champions League at the wing.
The team escaped from the cliff without him, which left another six duels on the way (Shakhtar, Sevilla, Gladbach, Atlético, Athletic and Eibar). He returned against Granada, but did not play anything. Yes, he did it at Martínez Valero and, then, yes, he was able to link seven games in a row, his best record of the year. With little sports footprint on the grass, yes. Until, in front of Levante, a tear of the anterior rectus, this time in the left thigh, sent him to the stretcher for the next seven games.
Last Saturday he visited again short against Elche, but that was until there.
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Eddie is an Australian news reporter with over 9 years in the industry and has published on Forbes and tech crunch.